Questions tagged [motherboard]

The motherboard or mainboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system.

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What does "DIMM socket support" mean in a QVL (Qualified Vendors List) over RAMS for a motherboard?

If you look at the DDR3 1333 Qualified Vendors List (QVL) list for the Asus Z87-A motherboard: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/Z87-A/Z87-A_DRAM_QVL_0730.pdf You can see a column called "...
corgrath's user avatar
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It is safe to keep the glue residues on the motherboard that had a backplate

This might seem a stupid question but i just want to be sure. Some cooler have a backplate with sticky (really sticky!) edge on back of them in order to stick it on the motherboard. I removed mine ...
Rushino's user avatar
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If I remove the Luks-encrypted drive to another motherboard, will I be able to run my system there?

If I remove the drive to another motherboard (for example from PC to Notebook), will I be able to run my Luks-encrypted system there without any problem? What if there are several systems on that ...
Santa Monica's user avatar
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5 answers
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My power supply/motherboard nightmare

Last summer I bought a broken power supply (without knowing of course) and put it in my computer. Turning my box on made one of my cheaper HDDs catch fire (I believe a capacitor or resistor blew) and ...
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For what is the Thunderbolt AIC connector used?

What does "AIC" mean? What does the connector do? Is it like a USB pin header where you can connect for example your USB ports for your case? Or do you need something else? Also there are expansion ...
testing's user avatar
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Does M.2 SSD Card mess with PCI express?

My graphic card is MSI gtx970, which uses PCIe 3.0x16. My M.2 SSD card is Samsung 950 pro, which uses PCIe 3.0x4. My motherboard is MSI z-170 pro I am not very familiar with the difference between 3....
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How does a motherboard with 2 DDR2-RAM slots support 8GB of RAM?

I have an MSI motherboard: K9N6PGM2-V2. This motherboard has 2 DIMMs sockets for DDR2-RAMs. But it's stated in MSI website that it supports up to 8GB RAM Main Memory - Supports Dual Channel DDR2 667/...
Ashraf Bashir's user avatar
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30k views

Can't set default boot to USB on Asus P7P55D-E LX motherboard

We have a machine with an Asus P7P55D-E LX motherboard. We're trying to set the default boot device to a USB attached flash drive. We set up "Removable" as the first and only boot device in the BIOS ...
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What limits my laptop on upgrading RAM at 8GB?

I have a Toshiba Portege M780-S7240. It's an i7, 64-bit and currently has 4GB RAM. I'd like to upgrade to 16GB. (If it matters, I'm running 64-bit Ubuntu.) I checked with a RAM vendor who said it ...
Mittenchops's user avatar
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When is too much voltage too much on a PC?

TLDR: The BIOS shows voltages as vcore: 1.248, 12V: 12.566, 5V: 5.160, 3.3V: 3.424. Is this bad? I got one miniITX motherboard that supports a 19 V laptop input instead of the regular ATX ...
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RAM not usable?

I just upgraded my RAM today by adding 2 x 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 sticks on top of my 2 x 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, making a total of 12GB of RAM. For some reason before the 4GB was all usable, but when I ...
Kevin Harrison's user avatar
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A PCI Express 3.0 Video Card into a PCI-E 1.0 x16 slot

Perhaps I'm trying to push my mobo too hard, but I think I have read that PCI-e 3.0 is back compatible to previous PCI-e specifications. But 3.0 into a 1.0, is it possibly asking too much? I'm ...
Karolinger's user avatar
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Computer Shuts Down, BSOD, Aggravation

---BOUNTY & EDIT--- Ok, here is the latest update, and attached a bounty! So I ran all of my ram sticks 1 at a time for around 24 hours each. None of them caused a BSOD. I ran test on all of ...
MrJustin's user avatar
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If I power a motherboard without CPU/RAM, what will happen?

First, I know it won't get through POST. No RAM/CPU make that fairly obvious. There is a 2-digit seven segment debug display on the board. (It's an ASRock Z77 Extreme4.) Can I expect any of the ...
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What exactly does the spec “PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (x4)” mean?

I'm looking at the Asus Maximus XII Hero. Its webpage says it supports the following: MULTI-GPU SLI®/ CFX SUPPORT​ 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Safeslots (x16, x8/x8)​ 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (x4) I understand ...
Vahid Pazirandeh's user avatar
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How to stop power light on PC from blinking when in sleep mode? [duplicate]

I regularly put my PC into sleep mode. Unfortunately the power button LED blinks every second and it's extremely bright blue which makes sleeping in the same room somewhat challenging. I have resorted ...
glenneroo's user avatar
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How to measure actual USB3 port speed?

Not all USB3 ports are created equal. I have a friend who develops embedded hardware that interfaces with USB chipsets. He told me that most USB chipsets that are slightly faster than USB2 (480 Mbit/...
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how many amps on the PSU 12v rail is used by a motherboard and CPU?

How many amps on the 12V rail does the motherboard, CPU, and RAM use? And how to find out for specific boards? I imagine this would be a reasonably common question people have when designing a new ...
BeowulfNode42's user avatar
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How do I diagnose a hard Linux crash?

I have a home-built Linux server (Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS, Intel i5-3570K, 8GB RAM) acting primarily as a mail and web server. It operates in console mode only (no GUI). I will SSH to it now and then, ...
George Adams's user avatar
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Too much hardware reserved memory

Background My parents have a Gateway lx6810-01 that had 32 bit Windows Vista Home Premium. It has two 4 GB sticks of RAM installed (GSkill F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT), totaling 8 GBs. The RAM came with the ...
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SpeedFan not detecting fans

SpeedFan 4.52 is not detecting any of my system fans. Am I doing something wrong? Is my motherboard not supported? Motherboard: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z170-Gaming-K3-rev-10#ov Fans: ...
Giancarlo's user avatar
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SMD transistor on motherboard is blown after a big spark; case fan no longer works

So I installed a new fan and upon turning on the computer there was a huge spark with loud bang. Everything stopped working until I unplugged power from motherboard. Now upon boot, computer says one ...
Daniil's user avatar
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Why are there no motherboards that are designed for both Intel and AMD CPU chips?

I've been looking at motherboards for quite a while and noticed that they all belong to either one chipset family or the other. The chips themselves look identical to my inexperienced eyes, each ...
Some Noob Student's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
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Motherboard missing serial number and UUID?

I have several machines I have networked together and I use information about the motherboard to uniquely identify them. This is the Windows PowerShell code I use to get it: >> $Manufacturer = ...
EllipticalInitial's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
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After Intel's admission, should Sandy Bridge processors be used?

I'm planning on getting a custom desktop PC assembled. I had planned on an Intel i5-2400 (Sandy bridge) processor in tandem with an Asus p8h67mle motherboard. After Intel's admission of a ...
Sparx's user avatar
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Difference between Mini-ITX and thin Mini-ITX

Recently, I've noticed a new type of motherboard form factor: Thin Mini-ITX. I've tried to find specification of it, but couldn't find any useful info. Wikipedia page about Mini-ITX doesn't have any ...
Slava Fomin II's user avatar
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Why is my motherboard temperature a constant arbitrary number?

checked with Piriform Speccy. checked with open hardware monitor checked with hardware sensor monitor(this one shows different statistics)
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How do I get a TPM module for a motherboard that does not already have one?

I have an ASUS P8P67 DELUXE motherboard, which (as far as I can tell) does not come with a TPM module, so I can't use BitLocker without a PIN or USB key. Is there any way to buy and install a TPM ...
grant's user avatar
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Will a processor socket with bent pins still work?

Will a processor socket with bent / broken off pins still work if the processor still sits in it ok? Purely hypothetical.
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Does adding Intel Optane make sense when 512G Intel NVMe SSD is in the m.2 slot?

I am confused about intel Optane. I plan to use an ASUS Prime Z590-A mobo with intel i5-11600 CPU and intel 670P 2280 NVMe 512GB M.2 SSD. I've read that Optane is a special tech to speed up OS ...
g.pickardou's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
64k views

Should I connect my case fan to a pwr_fan or chassis_fan header?

My ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 motherboard has the following fans: 2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (1 x 4-pin, 1 x 3-pin) 2 x Power Fan connector(s) (3-pin) The fan cable connector has three pins (and it ...
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7 votes
1 answer
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I plugged an 8-pin EPS (CPU) cable into the GPU's PCI-E port. Is it damaged?

The r9 290x I wanted to use needs 16 pins, my PSU which I thought had 1 PCI-E 6 + 2, 1 PCI-E 6 and 1 PCI-E 8-pin setups, actually had a second 8-pin EPS cable. I don't currently have something to ...
chiloutus's user avatar
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1 answer
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How do I test if my motherboard is failing using Linux?

I've been having strange segfaults happen randomly to firefox, qsynth, and totem. Mainly firefox. I've tested my hard drives with smartctl and dd, and tested my ram with memtest, but how do I test my ...
cat pants's user avatar
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1 answer
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Can I use an LGA 1156/1155 heatsink on an LGA 1150 motherboard?

I'm considering moving to Haswell from Nehalem by just getting a new mobo and CPU, but I'm not sure if I can keep my current heatsink. Can an LGA 1156 heatsink be mounted on to an LGA 1150 ...
Louis Waweru's user avatar
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How to tell if an empty PCI Express slot is 1.0, 2.0 etc? (general test, or enquiry command, not refer to spec)

Is it possible to run a test on an empty PCI Express slot to definitively determine that the slot is PCI Express 2.0 or not? My reason for asking is to see if I get the most out of USB3.0 with my ...
therobyouknow's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
15k views

My Motherboard has 3 display outputs. Can I use 3 Screens?

I am just building my first computer (going to instal linux, probably Ubuntu). I have been a Mac boy for the last four years so I am feeling somewhat confused. I am thinking about getting this ...
sixtyfootersdude's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
6k views

RAM only works in specific slot/order

I have a weird issue. I have two slots on my mobo but the RAM seems to work only in specific order. It will only work if RAM 1 is in slot 1 and RAM 2 is in slot 2, if I switch the position, it doesn't ...
IMB's user avatar
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Is boot history stored on motherboard?

I know that boot and login history is stored both on macOS (/var/log/) and Windows systems on the hard drive. Now the MacBooks hard drive has been formatted (MacBook Air 2018). Is it still possible ...
Briatore's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
118k views

How do I interpret the Asus motherboard LED and beep patterns?

What are the canonical meanings of the different DRAM_LED, power button and beep patterns prior to BIOS POST on Asus motherboards? My manual and miscellaneous web searches have turned up nothing but ...
l0b0's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
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How do I connect a SAS3 drive to a SAS2-capable motherboard that only has SATA-style ports?

I have purchased two items that I want to mate: A SuperMicro motherboard: X10SL7-F A Seagate Enterprise SAS drive: ST6000NM0034 The motherboard seems to be somewhat unique in that it has eight (8) ...
Ethan T's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
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What's the max memory i7 processors can use?

There are lots of i7 motherboards that support 64GB memory, and even one that supports 128GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130681 But I read that i7 CPUs can't access more ...
Joan Venge's user avatar
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2 answers
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Motherboard rated ram is 1333 and 2000(O.C.)?

I have a RAM question...This is my mobo... http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A89GTD_PROUSB3/ And it says it is rated for DDR 1333, and DDR 2000 O.C. First of all, I would have to assume ...
jcreamer898's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
39k views

Powershell - PCI/PCIe slot occupation

Given a Windows 10 system with Windows Powershell 5.0 ran as Administrator, I need to list all the motherboard slots and the name of the devices that occupy them, if any. Win32_SystemSlot, with Get-...
BowPark's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
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What do Channel Interleave and Rank Interleave settings mean in BIOS?

I have motherboard with 6 memory slots, 3 green, 3 black, grouped in 3 pairs black+green. There are two setting in BIOS which are seem to me as related to this: Channel Interleave Setting This ...
Dims's user avatar
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New build not powering up at all after connecting psu cables to hard drive

I recently decided to build myself a new, cheap(ish) rig mainly for HTPC use and I have now run into a BIG problem. The system simply refuses to show any signs of life. Problem: When I press the ...
white's user avatar
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4 answers
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What desktop boards support VT-D or IOMMU? [closed]

I'm looking for a desktop board that supports either VT-D (Intel) or IOMMU (AMD) technology. This is the IO virtualization technology, not VT-x for CPU virtualization. I've found a list of chipsets ...
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
14k views

laptop motherboard "shorts" when connected to adapter

Disclaimer: I'm sort of a noob, and this is a long post. Thank you all in advance! summary: completely dead laptop with no signs of life whatsoever (suddenly, for no apparent reason) Here's the deal:...
Cashew's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
47k views

No POST screen, No beeps and No display

I have very old motherboard , CPU , power supply. Motherboard : Gigabyte G31M-ES2C CPU : Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 @ 1.8GHz Ram : Transcend 2GB ddr2 800MHz. Power supply : Tech-Com 450Watt....
Bharat G's user avatar
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1 answer
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Clicking/Moving mouse produces beeps, laggy keyboard key presses on pc start [closed]

I can't for the love of god figure this out. When starting my computer, sometimes when I open an application, my computer comes to a halt. These things happen: -Pressing a button on my mouse produces ...
CREW's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
55k views

"Please enter SETUP to recover BIOS setting" message on boot

When I boot the PC it gives the following error: Please enter SETUP to recover BIOS setting Press F1 to run SETUP Press F2 to load default values and continue I have tried to set these ...
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